


Isn't He Lovely?

by Goodchampagneandprivateplanes



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Comfort, I Don't Even Know, I Tried, M/M, Nervous Harry, OR IS IT, Pining, SO, X-Factor - Freeform, auditions, but theyre older, comfort Louis, harry audition, i guess, im not even sure what to tag tbh, louis audition, not his first time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-11
Updated: 2016-06-11
Packaged: 2018-07-14 12:44:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7172036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goodchampagneandprivateplanes/pseuds/Goodchampagneandprivateplanes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“So you do speak, eh?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Isn't He Lovely?

Harry bounced his leg nervously, sitting in a chair in the far corner of the “holding room”. That’s what they called it, at least. In reality, it was just the room where artists wait until they get called backstage to prep for their audition. 

He just turned 18 and was thrilled since he was able to legally audition without familial permission. Sure, they were supportive and all, but Harry was sure that his mother would try to talk him out of auditioning, if she found out about it. She would try to tell him to just not do it, in fear of embarrassing himself. He would've listened to her. But, he didn’t tell her. This time, he was by himself. 

His curls bounced with every movement of his leg. He chewed at his lip, out of pure anxiety. They had gone over the queue earlier, and he knew that he had four people ahead of him still before he was called backstage. Then, backstage, there are two acts waiting, while one is performing. So, at this very moment, there were six more people to be called up before he went. 

He tried not to think about his friends or family. Instead, he blasted the song he was going to sing through his earbuds. However, that made him more anxious. He ended up back to chewing his lip and bouncing his leg. 

People were still coming into the holding room in groups. There were plenty of seats, but people tended to sit in groups purely for mental support. And, maybe physical support if they ended up fainting, as well. 

Harry enjoyed his time alone in the corner. He tried to look as pissed off as possible, but apparently, he didn’t look pissed off enough. A young guy, probably in his early twenties, sat across from him. His hair was in a quiff and tattoos decorated his arms. He was in a deep red tee and ripped jeans. He leaned his guitar against the wall and sat down in the chair. 

“Fuckin’ unreal, eh?” he commented, in Harry’s direction. Harry didn’t acknowledge the other man there and hoped that he would just go away, in all honesty. He wanted to suffer in peace and quiet. 

Harry bit his lip again and the older man chuckled a bit. 

“Biting your lip won’t do anything.” 

Silence. 

“My name’s Louis.” He stuck his hand out and Harry shook it, just for formality. 

“Harry.” 

“So you do speak, eh?” 

Harry glanced downward and flexed his hands to crack his knuckles. God, this couldn’t be worse. 

“Sorry, man,” Louis said. He relaxed back in his seat and put his feet up on the seat next to him. It was a makeshift sort-of barrier. “165998. Better number than mine.” 

“I didn’t realize people cared about numbers, 155204,” Harry replied. 

“Oh, snarky. I like it!” 

Harry had to laugh at Louis. He was trying a bit too hard to lighten up the mood and ease Harry’s nerves. Harry wasn’t sure if he appreciated it or not. He still wanted to suffer and almost succumb to his anxiety alone in his own corner. 

Harry held his breath as one of the production assistants rounded the corner and called out a number. He knew, in reality, that it wasn’t his number that would be called. He definitely didn’t want it to be. Instead of his number, the assistant called out 130923. He wasn’t quite sure of how the numbers were organized, but he didn’t really care, honestly. 

“You sing?” Louis asked, tilting his chin toward Harry. Harry just nodded and smacked his lips together. 

“Me too,” Louis started. 

“And you play guitar.” 

Louis nodded. They sat in a silence, that wasn’t awkward, for a few seconds before Louis interrupted it before it did get awkward. 

“What’re you going to sing?” Louis asked. 

“”Isn’t She Lovely” .. if you know that song.” 

“Of course! What a classic!” Louis feigned. He didn’t know the song at all, but he at least wanted to give a bit of confidence to the shaken boy across from him. And, he guessed he did, since Harry did give out a bit of a smile. 

“You?” Harry inquired. 

“Just “Hey There Delilah”,” Louis shrugged. “Nothing too big. Easy to play.” 

“I wish I knew how to play,” Harry laughed. The assistant rounded the corner and called a number. Still not either of their numbers. 

“Hey, I’ll teach you if you get through,” Louis offered. 

“I wouldn’t count on that,” Harry retorted, quickly. 

“Don’t give up on yourself yet, Curly. You’re probably better than you think. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have sent you through this far. Unless, you know, you’re an absolute laughing stock. But if you were, then you probably would be a lot more confident than you are now. I mean,” Louis motioned his head to a guy in the middle of the room who was juggling rubber chickens and playing harmonica, “you can tell who is going through plainly for humor.” 

Harry chuckled at the image that Louis had picked out. He hadn’t even noticed him prior to Louis saying something about him. 

“I’m sure you’ll do fine. Even if you don’t get in, you gave it your all, yeah?” Louis said, playfully. 

Harry was a bit happy now that someone had sat across from him. If he was still alone, he probably would have spontaneously combusted from all of the nerves. Then, he would, indeed, be the laughing stock. 

“How old are you anyway, Louis?” 

“22,” Louis shrugged again. “I figured I need to get a job since I just graduated. I’m trying to postpone that by doing this.” 

Harry was laughing at this point. 

“Procrastination at its finest,” Harry commented. Louis smiled brightly and nodded. Goal 1: Make the nervous boy genuinely laugh. Done. 

“Who are you here with?” Harry asked. The assistant came around again, and called out another name. Harry was next. 

_Fuck_. 

“Nah, nobody. My family is all working today. We’re not exactly the richest family, so they couldn’t afford to take off. Totally cool,” Louis shrugged. “You?” 

“Nobody. If my parents knew what I was doing, they would kill me,” Harry said and shrugged. 

“Why?” Louis asked. Goal 2: Make the nervous boy copy his body language. Done. 

“They think I’d embarrass them. Or myself. I don’t really know. It’s fine. I’m 18 now. I can do whatever I want without them. They’ll be supportive _if_ I get through. Otherwise, they never have to know,” Harry said, cooly. 

“Well, I’m sure they would be proud of you doing this, regardless of the outcome.” 

“May never know.” 

There was a silence and Harry went back to biting his lip. Louis wanted to break his anxiety again. 

“When are you going?” Louis asked. 

“Next.” 

Well, that’s one way to not ease anxiety. 

“Really?!” Louis exclaimed, much to Harry’s surprise. “I’m after you then. Damn. Was hoping to go after chicken dude so I looked better.” 

Harry smiled at that. 

“Just don’t forget to breathe. I don’t want to have to run out and drag your ass off stage because you forgot to breathe,” Louis laughed. 

The assistant came around the corner and called Harry’s number out. Harry stood up and Louis patted him on the shoulder, comfortingly. Harry nodded to him and made his way up to the assistant. 

It was only a short while before Louis was called back. He met Harry backstage and wrapped an arm around him, purely for comfort measures. Harry leaned against him and sighed. 

Harry was happy that there was somebody there, even if it was a guy he just met an hour ago, to support him. Maybe it wouldn’t have been awful to tell his family, but he knew it was for the best if he didn’t. 

Harry took a deep breath and broke away from Louis’ grip as he was called onto stage. 

Louis inched forward so he was able to see Harry on the stage. All he could do at this point was send good vibes. He watched as Harry walked through the interview questions with a shaky voice. He noticed that he wiped his hands on his jeans a few times on stage, probably sweating from the anxiety. The only good part was that the audience had no light on them, so it was almost as if you were only singing in front of the four judges. Sure, the four most important people in your life at this point, but it’s better than seeing them four plus a couple thousand people in the stadium seats behind them. 

“What’s your name?” Simon asked, glancing over a paper in front him. Louis assumed it was an information card about Harry. 

“Harry Styles,” he said into the microphone. He ran his fingers through his curls before returning his hand to his microphone. 

“And what do you do, Harry?” 

“I work in a bakery,” he said, smiling. Louis took a mental note of that. Maybe he could teach him how to _not_ set the oven on fire the next time he tried to make cookies. 

“Go on.” 

Louis held his breath for Harry as the music for his song started. 

Louis listened closely to Harry as he sang his song. At first, his voice was shaky and nervous, but once he got into his song, it was practically flawless. None of the judges hit their buzzer. And, God, Louis had never heard “Isn’t She Lovely” before, but now it was his favorite song. He peeked his head out a bit further at the end of Harry’s song, just to see the lights brighter than before, the crowd clapping and standing. Two of the judges were standing as well, clapping for him. Harry’s face was bright red and he hung his head, biting his lip, and holding back tears. From backstage, Louis applauded him. He did it. He _fucking_ nailed it. 

Louis wasn’t the least bit surprised when the judges put him through. Harry, definitely, was surprised. He hid his face in his hands, thanked the judges, and ran off stage. 

Right to Louis. 

Louis wrapped his arms around Harry. Harry was sobbing in happiness and surprise. His face was bright red and he was trying to catch his breath. Louis squeezed him in closer and smiled against his forehead. 

“I knew you could do it, Haz,” Louis said softly, holding him. Harry smiled brightly and pulled away. He brushed off Louis’ shoulder, laughing and sniffling. 

“Oh my God!” Harry finally sputtered out. Louis smiled and quickly hugged him again. 

Harry muttered a “good luck” to Louis before he ran on stage. He composed himself and took a few deep breaths so he could focus on Louis’ performance. 

Louis breezed through the interview questions, without any hesitation. Harry was impressed. It must not have been his first time. 

Harry hummed along to Louis singing and playing guitar. He was able to get the entire audience into his performance. That, right there, was a skill. Everyone seemed to love him. 

Neither were surprised when Louis got through. 

Louis came back to the backstage area and Harry ran up to him and hugged him again. 

“You did so good!” he exclaimed. Harry nestled himself into Louis’ shoulder, smiling widely. 

“Hmph,” Louis huffed. 

“What?!” 

“I guess I have to teach you guitar now, eh?” Louis said, failing to hide back a smirk. 

“Just an excuse to hang out with me, now,” Harry replied quickly. 

Goal Three: Make the nervous boy want to hang out with him. Done.

**Author's Note:**

> Trying to write 50 fics in 100 days. Feel free to comment requests! xo


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